View full sizePolice found a Buena Vista badge from the 1960s, left, concealed in the shoe of a man they say impersonated a police officer in Saginaw. A current Buena Vista sergeant's badge is pictured on the right side of the photograph. Brad Devereaux | The Saginaw News

BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP, MI — A man was arrested after he flashed a Buena Vista Township police badge at a Saginaw 7-Eleven and later showed up at a bar, identifying himself as an officer and asking patrons to buy him beer, according to police.

The Buena Vista Township Police Department said they were alerted of the fake cop's activities after he flashed a Buena Vista badge while trying to buy a pack of cigarettes and asking a clerk at the 7-Eleven at Bay and State to break a $50 bill, which the clerk said is against the store's policy.

View full sizeThomas Coon was arraigned on charges related to impersonation of a police officer on March 22.

"He said, 'Not even for a cop?'" the store's manager, Heather Orr, 41, said, adding the employee answered "no" and the man started talking on his cell phone before leaving without buying anything.

Orr said she heard about the incident from the employee and reviewed security footage, contacting police to complain about the man.

"I felt like the clerk was being harassed by a police officer," she said.

On Thursday, March 21, about 10 p.m., police were advised that a man matching the suspect's description was at Grand Central Station bar in Saginaw and displayed his badge on his open wallet after his credit card was declined.

He also identified himself as an officer and asked a patron at the bar to buy him a beer, Klecker said the staff reported.

As Klecker and officer Tim Patterson were responding to the bar, patrons tried to get the man to stay longer by buying him a pitcher of beer.

Klecker and Patterson confronted the man at the bar and asked him if he was a police officer, to which the man answered "no," but said he had worked for BAYANET in the past, Klecker said.

The man was arrested and police found the badge in his shoe, identifying it as a Buena Vista Police Department badge from the 1960s. Police took the badge, which the man said he took from his girlfriend. Police investigated and determined the woman's father was a former Buena Vista police officer.

The badge was taken as evidence and police said they have not decided what they will do with it in the future.

Anyone who has had any contact with the suspect is asked to call the Buena Vista Police Department at 989-233-2363.

"We want to get this out there in case he used the badge to victimize other people," Buena Vista Sgt. Sean Waterman said.

The suspect remains lodged in the Saginaw County Jail and police are preparing to send the case to the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office for review.

Check back for updates including footage from 7-Eleven once the man is arraigned, which could happen on Friday, March 22, according to police.